This chapter outlines the contribution and significance of private sector development to climate change, and provides a working definition of climate change adaptation in the context of real estate development. It highlights the need for a broader sector‐wide, whole‐of‐process perspective. The chapter then focuses primarily on the core of development, risk, and the two key roles of capital and of the developer in risk. It discusses the relevance of matters such as the importance and challenge of identifying the developer, the role of information, the heterogeneity of the industry, the industry's temporal structural dynamism and the diversity of approaches to negotiating the risk landscape presented to development. In doing so, the chapter reveals the problematic nature of research, regulation and governance for achieving a climate change adaptive development industry. It also shows that understanding risk is the key to understanding development and the diversity of development strategies.